How to set a website budget for a small business

Why there is no price list here

Some articles quote a single figure for what a small business website costs. A figure like that describes someone else's site. The cost of yours depends on the number of pages, the features, who writes the content, the platform and who builds it. This guide shows how to build a budget from those pieces instead, and the budget estimator does the arithmetic.

The three parts of a budget

1. Build work. Planning, design, building pages, adding content, setting up features, testing and launch.
2. Contingency. A cushion for things you did not foresee. You choose the size; the estimator starts at 15 percent as a placeholder you can change.
3. Running costs. Domain, hosting or platform plan, business email, paid add ons, and any updates or support you pay for, over at least twelve months.

A budget that covers only the build leaves out the costs that continue after launch.

Working out the build from hours

Builders price in different ways: a fixed price, a day rate, or a package. Underneath, each price reflects time. To compare, break the build into parts and estimate hours for each:

Multiply total hours by an hourly rate, which is the day rate divided by the hours in a working day. When you have quotes, replace your guesses with the builders' figures.

Running costs

List each service the site will depend on and find its current price from the provider:

• domain registration, charged per year or for several years
• hosting or a platform plan, monthly or yearly
• business email, per mailbox
• paid add ons, themes or licences
• booking, shop or mailing services
• updates and support, if you pay someone to maintain the site

Do not copy prices from a guide, including this one. Providers change prices, and plans change what they include.

VAT

If a builder is VAT registered, their prices may have VAT added. GOV.UK lists the standard rate as 20 percent. Ask whether a quote includes VAT, and if you are VAT registered yourself, ask your accountant whether you can reclaim it. GOV.UK's VAT registration page explains when a business must register: when taxable turnover over the last 12 months is over £90,000, or is expected to go over that in the next 30 days.

Comparing builders' quotes on the same plan

Quotes are only comparable if they price the same work. Send every builder the same plan, ideally the text file from the planner and the list from the feature selector. Then check each quote for:

• the pages and features included, item by item
• who writes and enters the content
• how changes are priced after the quote is accepted
• what happens after launch: support, updates, hosting
• payment stages and when the price is fixed

A lower quote that leaves out content entry or testing may cost more in the end.

A worked example with made-up figures

These figures are invented to show the arithmetic; they are not a market price. Say you are quoted a day rate of £400 for a seven hour day, which makes £57.14 an hour.

Running costs are left out of this example because they depend on your providers. Add them for twelve months, then add VAT if your quotes will include it. The point of the exercise is the shape of the budget, not the total. In this invented example, pages and content make up the largest lines; check which lines are largest in your own figures.

When the budget does not stretch

If the total is more than you can spend, cut scope before you cut quality. Move features to the later list, reduce the first version to the pages that do the main job, or write the content yourself. A smaller site that works can grow; an over-stretched project can stall.

Keep the budget with the plan

Download the estimate from the budget estimator and keep it with your plan. When quotes arrive, update it with the real figures, so you can see where each quote differs from your expectations.